CHAPTER TEN

Experiments

"The first of June! The Kings are off to the seashore tomorrow and I'm free. Three months' vacation—how I shall enjoy it!" exclaimed Meg, coming home one warm day.

"Aunt March went today, for which I'm joyful!" said Jo. "I was afraid she'd ask me to go with her on her trip. I felt so relieved when she finally left."

"What shall you do all your vacation?" asked Amy.

"I shall do nothing but rest and sleep," replied Meg. "I've had to wake up early all winter, and had to spend my days working for other people, so now I'm going to rest as I please."

"No," said Jo, "that won't suit me. I've many new books to read. I'm going to spend all my time reading."

"Let's not do any lessons, Beth, for a while, but play all the time and rest, as the girls will do," suggested Amy.

"Well, I will if Mother doesn't mind. I want to learn some new songs."

"May we, Mother?" asked Meg, turning to Mrs March, who sat nearby.

"You may try your experiment for a week and see how you like it. I think by Saturday night you will find that all play and no work is as bad as all work and no play."

"Oh, dear, no! It will be wonderful, I'm sure," said Meg eagerly.

The next morning, Meg did not appear till ten o'clock. Her breakfast alone was not as pleasant as she had hoped, and the room seemed lonely and unclean, as no one had done their duties that morning. In fact, nothing in the house was neat and pleasant, aside from "Marmee's corner" of the sitting room. Meg sat there to rest and read, imagining what pretty summer dresses she would buy with her salary. Jo spent the morning on the river with Laurie, and the afternoon reading. Beth spent the morning with her music, pleased that she had no dishes to wash. Amy sat down to draw flowers, hoping someone would see and compliment her work. As no one appeared, she went for a walk, just before it rained, and came home wet and cold.

At lunch, they compared notes, and all agreed that it had been a delightful day, though unusually long. Meg, went shopping in the afternoon, but soon discovered a spot on her new dress. Jo got a terrible headache by reading too long. Beth was finding it difficult to learn three or four songs at once, and Amy deeply regretted going for a walk in the rain, which had greatly damaged her dress, and she now had "nothing to wear" on her visit to a friend's the next day. But these problems the girls had were small, and they assured their mother that the experiment was working quite well. She smiled, said nothing, and with Hannah's help did their duties around the house, keeping home pleasant. It was astonishing what a strange and uncomfortable state the house was in with everyone "resting." The days kept getting longer and longer, and the girls became upset more easily, quarrelling quite a bit more often.

No one would admit that they were tired of the experiment, but by Friday night, each realized that she was glad the week was nearly over. Mrs March then decided to finish off the experiment in an appropriate manner, so she gave Hannah a holiday.

When they got up on Saturday morning, there was no fire in the kitchen, no breakfast in the dining room, and no mother anywhere to be seen.

"What has happened?" cried Jo in shock.

Meg ran upstairs and soon came back again to declare that their mother planned to stay quietly in her room all day, so the girls would have to amuse themselves for the day.

"She says it's been a hard week for her, so we mustn't complain, but take care of ourselves."

"That's easy enough, and I like the idea. I've been wanting something to do."

In fact, it was a relief to them all to have a little work, and they got started quickly. Beth and Amy set the table, while Meg and Jo got breakfast, wondering as they did why servants ever complained about the work.

"I shall take some up to Mother, though she said we were not to think of her, for she'd take care of herself," said Meg.

So, their mother was served bitter tea, burned eggs and salty bread, but Mrs March thanked them sweetly, and laughed after the girls were gone. She had provided herself with food for the day, but did not wish to hurt their feelings by refusing their breakfast.

Many were the complaints below to the embarrassment of the cooks, but Jo was determined to finish the duties of the day, and declared that she would have a dinner party that evening with invited guests. The failed breakfast, however, was Jo's first ever attempt at cooking, and the others had their doubts about the dinner. She spent the rest of the day in the kitchen, attempting new dishes for the dinner party.

After becoming frustrated that cooking was a more difficult task than she had believed it to be, she went into the sitting room to rest for a bit. There she found Beth crying over Pip, the family bird, which lay dead in the cage.

"It's all my fault—I forgot him—there isn't any food or water for him. Oh, Pip! Oh, Pip! How could I be so cruel to you?" cried Beth.

"The funeral shall be this evening, and we will all go. Now, don't cry Beth; it's a pity, but nothing has gone right this week, and Pip has experienced the worst of the experiment. After the dinner party, we'll have a nice little funeral," said Jo before returning to the kitchen.

At last, the dinner was ready, and Jo felt a great deal of anxiety just beforehand, and the dinner she served up became a joke thereafter. Fearing to ask advice, she did her best alone, and discovered that cooking, indeed, was a rather difficult task. She boiled the vegetables for too long, and was upset to see they were too soft. The bread burned black, the salad dressing did not mix, the meat was tough, and rather difficult to cut, and the potatoes were not finished. She was rather proud of the dessert, however, being strawberries and sugared cream. After the ruined dinner was finished, she walked out with the dessert proudly, and watched as each one tasted the creation. Quite horrified and shocked she was when ah present quietly but quickly spat the first bite into their napkins.

"Oh, what is it?" exclaimed Jo.

"Salt instead of sugar, and the cream is sour," replied Meg.

Unfortunately, in her rush to prepare the dinner, she had not put the cream in the refrigerator, and had used the bag of salt, rather than sugar.

After dinner was finished, and poor Pip's funeral conducted, the girls went to the sitting room after a tiring day.

"What a terrible day this has been!" began Jo, usually the first to speak.

"Not a bit like home," added Amy.

"It can't be like home without Marmee and little Pip," said Beth sadly.

"Here's Mother, dear, and you shall have another bird tomorrow, if you want one," she said cheerfully. "Are you satisfied with your experiment, girls, or do you want another week of it?" she asked.

"I don't!" cried Jo.

"Nor I," agreed the others.

"Suppose you learn a bit of cooking, Jo. That is quite useful," said Mrs March laughing quietly to herself. "Now, girls, you understand how the comfort of home all depends on each doing her duties. While Hannah and I did your work, you did quite well, though I don't think you were very happy. Don't you feel that it is more pleasant to help one another to make home comfortable and lovely to us all?"

"We do, Mother, we do!" cried the girls.

"Then, you must take up your duties again tomorrow. I know they sometimes seem difficult, but they become easier with time."

"We'll work and love it too!" said Jo. "I'll learn to cook, so my next dinner party will be a success."

"I'll make the next shirt for Father, instead of letting you do it, Marmee," said Meg.

"I'll do my lessons every day, and not spend so much time with my music," decided Beth.

"Very good! Then I am quite satisfied with the experiment, and I am sure we do not have to repeat it. Make each day both useful and pleasant."

"We will, Mother!" And they did.

(end of section)